Musical instrument



May 29, 1928.

W. BARTHOLOMAE MUS I CAL INSTRUMENT Filed Septv S, 192.6 2 Sheets-Sheetl INVENTOR M571 .a/lolomae ATTOR Nl-:Ys

May 2 9, 1928.

1,671,882 W. BARTHOLOMAE MUSICAL INSTRUMENT Filed Sept. 8, 192 2Sheets-Sheet 2 WITNESSES ATTORNEY Patented May 29, 1928.

PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM BARTH-omnes, r repetir-YN, NEW vomi.

MUSIC-#i INSTeUMEsT Application file/1,1 September 8, Serial No.134,289.

This invention relates to musical instruments and has for an object toprovide "a vibratile member andl means associated therewith whereby thepitch of the vibratile member may be changed and the change indicated ona diagram or "special ysheet of music.

Another object of the invention is to provide va musical instrumentwherein a vibratile member Vis provided for producing a sound with meansassociated therewitlr'including a special sheet oimusic for permittingplaying a tune by varying the action oiy the vibratile member with 'thevariations indicated o-n the sheet of'm'usic.

` A still further object'of the invention is to provide a musicalinstrument in which there isa vibvraltile"member"and a special sheet ofmusic associated therewith together' with a hinged xswinging structurefor indieating onthesheetof music the particular note produced by the4vibratile member. 'u

111th@ accompanying drewrlgs- Figure 1 lis" a perspective .View of avmusicall instrument disclosing an embodiment of the invention. A,"FgureQ isan enlarged top plan yview iof the instrumentlsliown 'in Figurel1. A Figure 3 is an edge View of the instrument shown in Figure 2. l'

Figure i is a sectional view through Figure lBwon linea-4, the sameshowing a modified operating member for the vibratile memblY il Figure 5is a side view of a modified form of musical yinstr ument to that shownin Figure 1. v`

vFigure 6 is a top plan view of .the musical instrument shown inFigureReferring to the accompanying drawings by numerals, l indicates a flatvibratile member'formed of metal7` wood or other vibratile materialwhereby the same will lproduce a sound ywhen struck. A pair oi' plates 2and 23 is clamped `to none :end of the vibratile member 1, 4saidplatesbeing preferably wood. A second pair of plates L and 5 is clamped byscrews or any desiredA means with the opposite end of the vibratilemember' 1, said plates fl and 5 being of wood and acting t'o'fn'ot onlygrip the vibratile member 1 but to receive a hand .operated yniember.,6. This .member maybe a wooden handle or may be a metal wire bent to adesired shape and secured to plate 5 tor instance.

This handle grasped and swung .toward the opposite end 4ot the vibratilemember as shownin dotted-lines'in Figure l3 when the device is inoperation. "A third vset of clampingV plates 7 and 8 is provided a`shorty dis'- tance from the plates 2 and 3, said third set carrying anabutment or ,handle 9 which may be wood or a looped piece of wire, saidabutment acting to normally rest against the leg oit the person usingthe instrument. Ordinarily, thehandle 9 rests against the left leg otthe person using the instrument the handle 6 is grasped by the lefthandof the person using the instrument. By moving the'handle 6 toward andtromhandle 9, the yibratile member l will be bowed more or less and whenstruck or operated on by a violin bow will prod uce a sound, the soundvarying in pitch according to the amount ot' bending provided. PlateLifcarries a yholder or rclip 10 which is adaptedto hold in agivenposition a sheet 11 having a special musical outline 12 Vprovidedthereon. This outline consists ot' a number or" dots 13 indicatingthenotes and aline 1 4 connecting these notes'. i i

`Whentlie instrument is being played, the cross bar l5 is brought tothevnotez lz'n'ea'r the head `of arrow 16 and the vibratile'member `1caused ,to function. After this'note has Vbeen'p rodnced,'the'han'dle 6is moved slightly until bending' of the vibratile member 1 brings the'second note 13 beneath bar 1.5. The vibratile member is then causedtofunction a gain AbyYA being struck orA` by being operated on. abow.l4Thisa'ction is continued until all xofthe notes on the sheet l2 havebeeni'produced. ABy producing .these notes inV the proper' time, a pieceof music is y correctly yplayed andmay be'played by a person lnotfia,`1i:i`i l iar' with music. Itwill b e noted that is bent at 17 andv formsan arm 18 whichis'piyotally connected to the 19 at .20. The bar 19 isrigidly secured to the. plate 7, though ii' desired, it could swingably" or hingedly connected with said plate.

in order to easily strike the vibratile member l and ,to 4produce adouble sound, balls 2l and 22 are provided, yeach ,of said Vballs beingconnected to a resilient member 23, Said resilient members beingpreferably a strip of thin steel. lllie ends of members 23 are rigidlysecured yto a block Qliwhich in turn is rigidly secured to a. bari` 25swingably connected with the lplates 2 and 3 by a suitable pivotal pin26, which pin may be in the j way as shown in dotted lines in Figure 2Qnature of a screw; and may be part of the means ior clamping the plates2 andw in place. v Y Y n When the device is in operative position, theballs 21 and 22 are in the position shown in Figures 1 and 2. When theseballs are not desired they may be swung out oi' the Vhen-the balls areswung out of the way as shown in Figure 2, a bow of any kind, as forinstance, a v.violin bow 27, may be rubbed across kthe edge 28 of thevibratile member 1 and a sound produced. By bowing the vibratile member1 as indicated in dotted lines in Figure 3 and at the same timeoperating 22y are in the position shown in Figure 2.`

This would result in the music being played by thebow 27 with the balls21 and22 acting in a certain sense as an'accompaniment by reason of theshaking of the device as handle 6 is moved back and forth. The balls 21and 22 are positioned near the vibratile'member 21 and the shakingaction justmentioned would permit these balls to gently strike thevibratile member.

In Figures 5 and 6, a modified form is shown wherein the vibratilestructure consists of one or more strings 29 mounted on a hollowsounding member 30. This `may be of the kind shown or may be built likea violin, mandolin or banjo. The essential feature is to have one ormore vibratile members 29, which are preferably supported by a bridge31'and held at one end by a suitable support 32 and the opposite end bysupports 83, saidsupports 33 being of a kind to vary the tension on thevibratile members for t-he purpose of tuning. A holder or clip 34 isconnected with the sounding member 30, saidholder carrying a sheet 35having specially formed music indications 36. The music indications orlegends 36 consist of a number of dots 37 indicating the notes and aline 38 connecting said notes, said line guiding the operator in goingfrom one note to the other. A swinging member 39 is associated with thevibratile members 29 and .the sounding member 30. This swinging memberis formed with sections 40 and 41, section 41 being hingedly connectedat 42 to the sounding member k30 while section 40 is hingedly connectedto section 41. Section 40 is provided with a fitting 43 which is formedwith a tubular portion 44 adapted to receive one end of lthe tube 45.The tube 45 may be made from celluloid or any desired material and isadapted to rest on the various vibratile members 29 while at the sametime presenting means for receiving the end portion 46 of the guidingbar 47. This bar is provided with a vertical section adapted to pass infront of the sheet 35 with a horizontal section 48 adapted to slidealong the topof the sounding member 30 or along a specially'preparedsupport and a connecting Y section 49vfor connecting section 48 with thef 40 is grasped near the tubular member 45 c and this tubular member isslid back and forth while in contact with the vibratile member 26. lVhenit is desired to playthe music shown on sheet 85, the parts are shitteduntil the bar 47 covers the dot 37 nearest" to the arrow 50. Vhen bar47is in this position, the vibrati-le members 29 are either struckv by apick or with the fingers whereby they will vibrate and produce a sound.As soon as this sound has` been produced and held forV the 'desiredtime, member 45 is quickly moved over to the Isecond dot 37 and theaction repeated. After the second note has been produced, member 45,together with the bar 47, again move until bar 47 is over a third dot37.` Thevibratile member 29 "is then sounded as just described. This 1.A musical instrument comprising a' body, a vibratile sound producingmember extending across said body, a bridge for said vibratile soundproducing member, a swinging member positioned with one end resting onsaid vibratile sound producing member, said end being movable-along thevibratile sound producing member for at least half of the length of thevibratile sound producing member, a guideV carriedl by said swingingmember, and means co-acting with the guide for indicating the particularnote produced when the vibratile sound producing member has beenactuated.

2. In a musical instrument provided with a vibratile sound producingmember a swinging member co-acting with said vibra'- tile soundproducing memberformed with means normally resting on the vibratilesound producing member, said swinging member being jointed so that theend rest-y ing on the vibrgltile sound producing member may be movedlongitudinally of the vibratile sound producing member while in contacttherewith and thereby vary the pitch of the vibratile sound producingmember, a guide carried by said swinging member, and means `co-actingwith said guide for indieating the particular note produced when thevibiatile sound producing member has been actuated.

3. In a musical stringed instrumenta swinging member hingedly mountedand formed into a plurality ot parts hingedly connected together", meanson one of said parts positioned to engage the strings of the instrumentand be moved longitudinally thereof for varying the pitch, and a guidecarried by one ol said parts for indicating by its position theparticular pitch of the stringed instrument at any one actuation.

e'. ln a musical instrument provided with a vibratile sound producingmember, a swinging member formed with a hingedly mounted section adaptedto swing independently of the remaining part of the swinging member, aContact member movable longitudinally of the vibratile member andcarried by the hinged section positioned to contact with said vibratilesound producing member whereby the pitch of the vibratile soundproducing member will be varied as said contact member is movedlongitudinally thereof and in contact therewith, a guide h movablelongitudinally ot the vibratile sound producing member carried by saidContact member, said guide extending substantially at right angles tothe vibratile sound producing member and means co-act ing with saidguide for indicating the particular note produced when the vibratilesound producing member has been actuated.

5. In a stringed musical instrument, a swinging member positioned sothat one end will normally rest on the strings ot said stringed musicalinstrument, said swinging member comprising a body divided into a iXedsection hingedly mounted at one end and tree at the opposite end and afree section hingedly connected at one end to the treer end ot saidiixed section, a bracket carried by the tree end ot said tree section, acontact member carried by said bracket, and a guide carried by saidcontact member, said guide having a portion extending into the contactmember, a second portion acting as a support and a third portion actingas an indicating arm.

VILLAM BARTHOLOMAE.

